EPISD bond management

Ross Moore sent this in:

The purpose of this E-Mail is to update you on the EPISD 2016 Bond. There have been several significant developments over the past month. These include issues in management, finances (your property taxes), project costs and project status.

1. Management. There is another major shakeup in the senior management of the 2016 Bond both on the District and Project Manager side of the house.

a. The Executive Director for the Bond Projects, Carlos Gallinar has resigned. I will note his predecessor resigned under a cloud.

b. The EPISD Project Lead for Jacobs Engineering has resigned.

c. The CBAC has been delayed to 12.6.2018 from 11.15.2018. I will note the CBAC has been vocal in its concerns about management, finances, projected costs and projects status.

2. Finances (Your Property Taxes). The Financial Markets have turned against EPISD over the past two years. They will affect Property Tax rates.

a. The 10 Year Treasury Bond Interest Rate has risen steadily for the past year. It is the benchmark that drives the Bond Market.

b. The higher the Interest Rate goes, the more it costs EPISD to borrow money.

c. The more it costs EPISD to borrow money, the higher your Property Taxes go.

d. Well over half the 2016 Bond hasn’t been put on the Bond Market, yet.

3. Project Costs. Inflation, Hurricanes, Tariffs, and Labor Costs have driven up Project Costs over the past two years.

a. It looks like Project Costs were underestimated in 2015/2016.

b. Demand for materials, like steel, aluminum and cement, have increased nationally and locally.

c. Steel has gone up 16% since the Bond vote in November 2016, as an example. Impact of Trump Tariffs have not hit yet.

d. Downscaling projects has already begun. What happened to Andress will happen elsewhere.

4. Project Status. According to EPISD, two years after the Bond Election, this is the status of major Projects.

EPISD finally get the chance to upgrade their district and make it a much better place for our children to learn and what happens? We draw an Education Reform Lawyer for a Superintendent who loves to spend money but not necessarily in the right places. Good thing the got the PENNY SWAP so they can go to the I&S for more money without voter approval.
YES, YOU WERE HAD AND WILL CONTINUE TO SPEND TIME IN THE BARREL!
Board Elections in May but probably too late!

While projects will have to be scaled back due to poor planning, can we expect a refund of the incredibly expensive ‘bonus’ paid to the Superintendant who just basically did his job getting the bond passed in the first place? After all, it’s for the kids!

I’m with Ross on this. Informal discussions with the architects lead me to believe they are not comfortable with Ms Dalbin the so-called Program Coordinator. She has zero experience in major construction, zero experience in architectural design, no idea of the requirements for a buildings HVAC, telecom, IT, lighting, etc., and zero knowledge of the state’s requirements for educational classroom construction. Now we lose Gallinar, and the lead from Jacobs. Plus the CBAC is continually reminded they are advisory only, and it doesn’t concern the Board or Ms Candelaria that information reaches Finance and the Board before CBAC sees it. And the Board is soliciting for an Owner’s Rep? So they have someone else to blame when this goes more sideways?